London Chess Classic Round 7

The 2012 London Chess Classic has really spoiled chess fans with hard-fought games and lots of decisive results.

Round seven provided yet more hard-fought chess, but there were no decisive results in today's games.

Judit Polgar and Vishy Anand always seem to spark off one another, and their Sicilian Najdorf provided plenty of action before a draw was agreed on move 32.

The main attraction was the clash between Hikaru Nakamura and tournament leader Magnus Carlsen. Nakamura avoided the Open Sicilian with 3.c3 and was soon on the back foot after Carlsen sacrificed a Knight for two pawns.

However, the US Champion responded well and with accurate play ensured that it was the Norwegian who was fighting for a draw at the end.

Gawain Jones bravely used the same opening that he had lost with against Vishy Anand so horribly in round five, but this time he was much more solid and drew against Lev Aronian.

Last to finish were Mickey Adams and Luke McShane. Adams seemed to have a win at some points, but Luke escaped with a draw after seven hours.

Hikaru Nakamura drew with Magnus Carlsen

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Judit Polgar and Vishy Anand fought a typically exciting battle

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Gawain Jones drew with Lev Aronian

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Luke McShane had another long game to earn a draw with Mickey Adams

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The standings after 7 rounds (3-1-0 scoring)

Name

Fed

Elo

Gms

Pts

Carlsen, Magnus

NOR

2848

7

17

Kramnik, Vladimir

RUS

2795

6

12

Adams, Michael

ENG

2710

6

11

Nakamura, Hikaru

USA

2760

6

9

Anand, Viswanathan

IND

2775

6

7

Aronian, Levon

ARM

2815

6

6

McShane, Luke

ENG

2713

6

5

Jones, Gawain C B

ENG

2644

7

3

Polgar, Judit

HUN

2705

6

2

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The 2012 London Chess Classic runs from 1-10 December , with one rest day on the 5th December. Games start at 14:00 GMT, except round four (16:00), and the final round (12:00).

The time control is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20 moves, then 30 minutes to finish. The 'Bilbao' style 3-1-0 scoring system is being used.

In the event of tied scores at the end of the competition, tie breaks are 1) # of wins 2) # of wins with black, 3) head-to-head result. If these mathematical tiebreakers are not enough, then there will be rapid tie-break games and if needed, a final sudden death game.

Yeah, Carlsen was never in trouble at the end. The draw was an easy option. Funny how Carlsen just moved his king back and forth for a long time while nakamura played inconsequential moves. Should have been a draw many moves ago.

The two games I enjoyed the most today were Naka - Carlsen and also Adams - McShane !! Challenge everyone reading these posts and watching the tournament (and enjoying it) to contribute to the event ... 1 pound is a buck 50 U.S. what a small price for such a great event ... and of course it benefits our sport in England and worldwide.

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